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Scarlet Knight is the first submersible robotic glider to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The glider Scarlet Knight reached the port city of Baiona, Spain on December 09, 2009 by remaining at sea for 221 days to cover a distance of 7,389 km.

Some interesting features of Scarlet Knight are:

• A joint project by Rutgers University (The Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences) New Jersey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
• The glider was launched on April 27, 2009 off the coast of Tuckerton, NJ and was recovered on December 04, 2009 by MV Investigador of Spain.
• The glider collected data on ocean temperatures and currents while crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
• Scarlet Knight is the latest version of Slocum Electric glider series, designed by Teledyne-Webb Research.
• Also known as RU 27, an advanced version of RU 17.

View amazing photographs of Scarlet Knight recovery in Spain from sea.

View an interesting documentary video clip: Atlantic Crossing – a robot’s daring mission – Dena Seidel

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The BEA (Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile), the French agency investigating the accident of Air France (AF) Flight 447 on June 01 over the Atlantic Ocean, has released the second Interim Report on December 17.

The search for locating the Flight Recorders and the aircraft wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean was carried out in two phases from June 10 to July 10 (phase 1) and from July 27 to August 17 (phase 2). The Flight Recorders could not be located from the ocean.

Now the BEA has recommended near-term, medium-term, long-term solutions to European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on aircrafts on public transport flights.

The recommendations are:

• near-term solution to implement as early as possible:
  • to extend the regulatory transmission time for Underwater Locator Beacon (ULB) installed on flight recorders of aircrafts on public transport flights over maritime areas to 90 days from the existing 30 days.
  • to make it mandatory for aircrafts on public transport flights over maritime areas, be equipped with an additional ULB capable of transmitting on a frequency (for example between 8.5 kHz and 9.5 kHz) and for a duration adapted to the pre-localisation of wreckage.
• medium-term solution: to study the possibility of making it mandatory for aircrafts on public transport flights to regularly transmit basic flight data like position, altitude, speed, heading to Air Traffic Control.
• long-term solution: ICAO to ask the FLIRECP(19) group to establish proposals on the conditions for implementing deployable recorders of the Eurocae ED-112 type for airplanes performing public transport flights.

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USS Makin Island is ready for commissioning on October 24 at Naval Air Station North Island.
USS Makin Island, the final amphibious assault ship built in the LHD-1 Wasp-class is considered as the green ship because

• Makin Island is the first of the class built with both gas turbines and an electric drive as Auxiliary Propulsion System (APS).
• The ship will be using APS for roughly 75 percent of the time the ship is underway and is expected to save nearly $250 million in fuel costs over the ship’s lifetime.
• The ship has already saved more than $2 million in fuel costs during the ships transit from Pascagoula, Miss., to San Diego.
• The ship has other environmentally-friendly equipments like
  • an electric plant to power auxiliaries thereby avoiding steam or associated chemicals.
  • reverse osmosis water purification systems to avoid the need for chemicals like bromine or chlorine.

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Canada’s Nanosatellite Tracking of Ships (NTS) project has started showing results. exactEarth Ltd., has successfully used its space-based AIS (Automatic Identification System) technology, exactAIS, to assist the Canadian Forces (CF) and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to monitor Illegal Unregulated Unreported Fishing (IUU) activity in the Pacific Ocean.

Some interesting features of  NTS Nanosatellite, exactAIS and IUU are:

• NTS Nanosatellite
  • Part of Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 6 (CanX-6) program to demonstrate key elements of exactEarth space-based AIS detection technology.
  • Developed by University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS)/Space Flight Laboratory (SFL).
  • Launched in April, 2008 through Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C9 from ISRO,India.
• exactEarth Ltd., and exactAIS
  • A subsidiary of COM DEV International Ltd.
  • Precise, secure, reliable global vessel tracking and monitoring system using space-based advanced AIS detection technology.
  • Capable of detecting and identifying ships from space rapidly over a wide area.
  • Announced plans to launch a constellation of larger microsatellites and offer a full-scale, commercial AIS data service beginning in 2010.
• Illegal Unregulated Unreported Fishing (IUU)
  • Nets up to 40-kilometres length are used in high seas (driftnet fishing) to catch everything in their path that results in depletion of valuable marine fish resource.
  • Driftnet fishing is being carried out in violation to the United Nations’ moratorium on driftnet fishing since 1992.
  • Canada through Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is actively monitoring IUU fishing.

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HydraTech Engineered Products, Inc., has marine pipe repair kit to repair pipelines onboard. This kit helps to carryout preventive maintenance to avoid major failure at sea. Repairs can be carried out with common tools in less than 30 minutes.

Some interesting features of this marine pipe repair kit – HydraWrap system are:

• is a CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) which incorporates high performance epoxies and carbon fiber fabric into an ultra high strength composite repair.
• can be used onboard without any hot work or any special tools.
• comes complete with all required materials and directions for repairs of specific fittings and straight pipe sizes up to 24”.
• also designed for elbow, tee joint repairs and for bulkhead patching.
• engineered to ASME Standards and ABS Design Approved.
• available as: Standard HydraWrap, High Temp HydraWrap, Acid Resistant HydraWrap.
• will develop full physical properties within 24 hours of application.

Here is a photograph of a pipeline tee joint before and after repair with HydraWrap.

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Wema has launched the latest GPS Speedo that works on GPS signals.

Some interesting features of Wema’s GPS Speedo are:

• displays speed analogically (SOG-Speed over Ground) and compass heading (Course over Ground) digitally.
• an instrument with high-end 32 channel GPS Receiver.
• display is independent of vessel’s engine control and monitoring systems, sea conditions.
• plug and play, standalone, easy to install unit that works on 12V dc.
• available in 30 knots and 60 knots version.

GPS Speedo is different from Electro Magnetic (EM) speed log that uses a transducer mounted on the ship’s hull (bottom – below water line) to measure the speed of the vessel. The latest EM logs have provision for GPS signal inputs.

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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched Oceansat-2 satellite on September 23 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, 90 km north of Chennai.

Some interesting features of the launch and Oceansat-2 are:

• Launched by ISRO’s PSLV-C14 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) at 11:51 am IST.
• Sixteenth mission of PSLV and its fifteenth consecutive success.
• Launched as a replacement to 1050 kg IRS-P4 (Oceansat-1), that was launched on May 26, 1999 with Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR) for oceanographic studies.
• Oceansat-2 satellite
  • Weighs 960 kg and powered by 15 Sq.metre solar panels to generate 1360 W with two 24 Ah Ni-Cd Batteries.
  • Injected into orbit at 1081 seconds after lift-off at an altitude of 728 km.
  • Sixteenth remote sensing satellite of India.
  • Carries three payloads: Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM); Ku-band Pencil Beam scatterometer (SCAT) developed by ISRO; Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmosphere (ROSA) developed by the Italian Space Agency.
  • OCM: the eight band OCM images a swath (strip of land or ocean) of 1420 km width with a resolution of 360 metre and works in the Visible and Near Infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • SCAT: the Ku-band Scatterometer with a 1 metre diameter antenna rotating at 20 rpm, works at a frequency of 13.515 GHz; the Scatterometer covers a swath of 1400 km and operates continuously.
  • ROSA: GPS Receiver for atmospheric sounding by radio occultation.
  • Helps to identify potential fishing zones and can provide inputs for weather forecasting.
  • Mission life: 5 years

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Norway is getting ready to test space based Automatic Identification System (AIS) to track ships at sea. The space based testing is going to be done from International Space Station (ISS) and from a nanosatellite. Present AIS operates on VHF (Very High Frequency) signals and has range restriction of approximately 50 km.

Some interesting features of space based AIS by Norway are:

• Space based tracking helps to track ships at sea globally with wider coverage area.
• Developed jointly by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Kongsberg Seatex in cooperation with other partners.
• NORAIS (Norwegian Automatic Identification System)
  • Instrument has reached this month through the Japanese H-2 Transfer Vehicle to International Space Station for installation in Columbus, the European space laboratory on the International Space Station. Project is called as Columbus Automatic Identification System (COLAIS).
  • Testing will start next year after fixing a specially constructed antennae outside Columbus in November this year.
  • To be operated by FFI. N-USOC in Trondheim, Norway will collect data from the instrument and send it to FFI every hour.
  • Has a viewing range of more than 4000 km covering the ocean areas between 70 degrees North and 70 degrees South several times a day.

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The world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine, Hywind pilot is operational in the North Sea from September 08. Hywind pilot of StatoilHydro comprises a 2.3 megawatt wind turbine operating from a float used for applications like oil production platforms and offshore loading. Siemens Wind Power company in Denmark has manufactured the turbine, France’s Technip has built the float and Nexans has laid the power cable to land.

Here is a photograph from StatoilHydro.

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BAE systems has developed a sophisticated electronic early warning system to combat piracy on the high seas.

Some interesting features of the system revealed during Defence Systems & Equipment International (DSEi) 2009 being held (September 8-11) at London are:

• Utilized its expertise in the defence, security and aerospace sectors to develop the system to detect suspected pirate vessels at a long range of 25 km.
• Long range detection gives ships crew enough time to take preventive/offensive actions against suspected piracy vessels.
• The system’s current capabilities include:
  • High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HF SWR) to detect small boats well beyond the horizon at up to 25 km.
  • Panoramic Area Surveillance System (PASS) 360° video camera and display system for visual identification, movement detection, threat level alarms. Integrating with infra-red systems for detection is also being taken up.
  • Passive Radar Identification System (PRISM) to provide early warning of an unidentified radar carrying vessel.
  • Laser Dome: Improved lighting to increase the likelihood of detecting intruders within the immediate vicinity of the ship at night and act as a deterrent.

Here are some more graphics of Anti Sea Piracy systems from BAE Systems:

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Broadband Antenna Tracking Systems (BATS) has successfully demonstrated ship-to-ship wireless broadband communications tracking system using their BTS-2500 units with two wireless broadband radios.

Some interesting features of BATS and Ship to Ship demonstration are:

• has developed the software and hardware technology for broadband communication systems for mobile or fixed platforms.
• the BTS-2500 System consists of a modular computer-controlled positioning unit along with the Hardened Antenna Control Unit (HACU) or Rack Mount Control Unit (RMCU).
• aims, finds and locks in on an access point automatically in seconds.
• maintains continuous tracking without the use of a global positioning systems (GPS) or coordinates.
• saves time and resources used for manual adjusting or resetting of antenna as in conventional systems.
• has integrated servo positioning units, predictive search and tracking algorithms, to match with any wireless broadband system.
• can be rapidly deployed and can be used as an extension of a wireless network without relying on expensive, low-bandwidth satellite communications.
• useful for communication between moving vehicles on land, water and in air to access critical broadband communications resources i.e. data ,voice and streaming video in real time.
• suitable as mobile WiMAX for Ship to Shore and Ship to Ship communications.

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Samsung has introduced a marine model B 2100 phone. The specifications indicate that this model is India specific to withstand monsoon, dust and heat. The price is around INR 7000.

Some interesting features of Samsung Marine B 2100 are:

• Waterproof & Dust Resistant
  • Complies with the IP57 (Ingress Protection) standard
  • Submersible up to 1 metre for 30 minutes
• Compliant with US Department of Defence with Military Standard 810F (MIL-STD-810F).
• Rated to withstand blowing rain, dust, shock, salt, sand, fog, humidity, water, immersion, solar radiation, vibration, and extreme temperature.
• Outdoor-friendly Features
  • Extremely loud external speakers
  • Noise cancellation feature optimized for noisy condition
  • Incandescent embedded flashlight
  • Temperature resistant – (-20 to +60 degree Celsius )
• Network: GSM/GPRS
• Weight : 102.8g
• Dimension : 113 mm X 48.9 mm X 17.4 mm

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Tata Communications has partnerships with a consortium of cable operators, including SEA-ME-WE 4, C2C, SAFE, EAC, APCN-2, Americas 2, CANTAT 3, 121 and others. The Company has alliances with BT, C&W, France Telecom, T-System, Telecom Italia, AT&T, Verizon Business, Sprint, SingTel, NTT, Telstra, KDDI, Telecom Malaysia and many more. Presently, Tata Communications has total lit capacity of over 2 terabyte and is the world’s largest carrier of voice traffic.

Subsidiaries of Tata Communications include:

• Tyco: Acquired in 2005, the company was one of the largest owners of submarine cable bandwidth.
• Teleglobe: Acquired in 2006, this global wholesale provider helped Tata Communications become the owner of a Tier-1 IP network.
• Neotel: The second largest service provider in South Africa.

By year end, Tata Communications will be the first to have undersea cable network around the world in the form of a ring.

Here is a sketch from Tata Communications showing worldwide presence.

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The Deep Siren Tactical Paging (DSTP) system being developed by Raytheon, allows a command station to communicate with a  submarine in real-time regardless of the submarine’s operating speed or depth.

Presently submarines have to come closer to the sea surface to communicate by using Electro Magnetic (EM) waves in ELF band (Extremely Low Frequency; 30 Hz – 300 Hz), in VLF band (Very low frequency; 3 kHz – 30 kHz), in HF band (High Frequency; 3 MHz – 30 MHz).

Some interesting features of DSTP are:

• Comprises of
  • a command station
  • one or more EM to acoustic gateway expendable buoys
  • an acoustic receive station on board the submarine
• The vital Deep Siren acoustic gateway buoy
  • can be launched
    • from a submarine through the trash disposal unit
    • from a maritime patrol aircraft through the sonobuoy launch tube
    • by a surface craft
  • has worldwide connectivity with the command station through a commercial satellite data link.
  • translates satellite communication messages into a reliable low data rate underwater acoustic signal that is received and decoded by the acoustic receiving station onboard the submarine.
• Communication range is in excess of 150 nautical miles from the buoy.
• November 2007: Raytheon was awarded a U.S. Navy contract valued at $5.2 million for development of DSTP system.
• August 2008: U.S Navy successfully completed a series of tests of DSTP system at the Atlantic Underwater Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) deep water range in the Bahamas.
• Further evaluation by the Royal Navy was conducted this year during TAURUS 09 deployment.
• Raytheon leads the team by providing Mission Systems Integration along with partners
  • RRK Technologies, Ltd (U.K) for Deep Siren long range acoustic transmit and receive algorithms
  • Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems (Canada) for building the expendable buoy and launch vehicle
• Raytheon is further working on airborne certification of Deep Siren, which will allow the system’s buoys to be deployed by aircraft.

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Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband 150 (FB 150) took only 15 minutes to install in tug Miclyn Enterprise on July 10. The installation was done by Thrane & Thrane’s Certified Partner, Jason Electronics, at the Jalan Brigjen Katamso shipyard in Batam, Indonesia. Miclyn Enterprise is the first vessel to switch on to high-speed connectivity using Inmarsat’s new FleetBroadband 150 service. The first email from the vessel was sent and telephone call made within an hour of installation.

FB 150 is highly suitable for smaller vessels that handle lesser data rate. Inmarsat has already FB 250 and FB 500 for larger merchant ships to handle higher data rate.

Some interesting features of new entry-level FB 150 are:

• Combination of a high-quality telephone connection with simultaneous IP data at up to 150 kbps and SMS texting.
• Affordable and reliable global communications system using the advanced Inmarsat-4 satellites, with assured service up to 2020s.
• Provides better connectivity with improved efficiency by ensuring smooth, uninterrupted operations at sea.
• Ideal for small to medium-sized merchant vessels, leisure crafts, fishing vessels, government vessels requiring single-user internet access and email.
• Now even smaller vessels can easily be in touch with their shore units, access real time data like weather reports, weather updates and charts.
• Compact and can be easily installed by one experienced person in installing marine equipment without any heavy machinery or tools.
• Sailor 150 FleetBroadband: Above Deck Unit weighs 3.9 kg; Below Deck Unit weighs 2.0 kg

Here is the sketch of Sailor 150 FleetBroadband.

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